BRIDGES To Understanding

Seattle, WA / Dharamsala, India / Wallacedene Township, South Africa
March 2005 – October 2008
In March 2005, I taught the basics of photography and visual storytelling to teachers and amateur photographers for the Seattle-based organization BRIDGES to Understanding. BRIDGES engages K-12 students worldwide in interactive learning and storytelling to build cross-cultural understanding.

In October 2007 & 2008, I co-facilitated two digital storytelling workshops with BRIDGES in Dharamsala, India at the Tibetan Children’s Village established by the elder sister of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. During these workshops, I mentored adults from the US in photography and digital storytelling and then helped them mentor Tibetan refugee youth to produce group digital stories.

In August 2008, I co-facilitated a similarly structured digital storytelling workshop with adults from the US and high school students living in Wallacedene township, an economically impoverished area outside of Cape Town, South Africa.  One story examined the stigma attached to having tuberculosis and the other looked at the impact of rising food prices on their lives.

To view all the digital stories produced by the youth visit: www.bridgesweb.org. Here are two stories produced by youth at the Tibetan Children’s Village and two by students at Hector Peterson Secondary School in Wallacedene, South Africa.